The Rooster Named “Pat”

Our “new flock” which maybe I should just start referring to as “flock #2” is now 11 weeks old.  It’s crazy to realize they are about 3 months.  They are due to start laying at about 6 months old.  We came through everything with 21 hens and 1 rooster.  Yes, another rooster.

A few weeks ago we moved them out of the brooder box and in to the fenced garden as a holding spot until we could go pull some temporary fencing for them up behind the goat barn (today’s chore).  One of the last chickens I picked up to carry from the brooder to the backyard screamed something awful when I had a hold of her.  It was a bit strange, but not entirely unusual.  Just as I released her over the fence with the other’s I saw a gaping wound at the base of her tail feathers.  I was mortified as I realized I had blood on my hands and jacket sleeve.  No wonder she was screaming, I had been holding her such that I was probably touching the wound.  I started yelling for Bengt in a panic (don’t all these stories involve me yelling to Bengt in a panic?) and he came around with the last two chickens.  I pointed out the one with the wound and we watched as another hen walked right up and starting pecking at the bloody area.  The one with the wound just went in to a submissive pose and allowed it.  Chickens are so mean!  Bengt went in to the garden to retrieve her and we immediately went in to chicken hospital mode.  Once he had her I took a look at the wound and it was about the size of a half dollar and there was no skin.  You could clearly see the muscle structure entirely exposed.  It was terrifying.  We put her back in to the brooder box and raced off to the feed store to look for antibiotics and get her clean shavings.  The best I could come up with to do was to give her a clean environment, boost her natural healing process, and hope.  So we did exactly that.  We couldn’t find an appropriate antibiotic so we gave her a dose of tetracycline before realizing that it wasn’t going to really help (it’s for respiratory infections) and quit.  We tried to find iodine tincture to rinse the wound, but it’s nearly impossible to purchase these days since it can be used for nefarious purposes and eventually I gave up in utter frustration.  As the days went by she appeared to be healing so we just kept her isolated and let her body do its own thing. 

A week or so later some friends and I were outside and heard a strangled crowing sound.  I thought it was Boots, our current rooster, on the other side of the house but it seemed like it was coming from the garage.  I was certain that the chicken in the brooder box was a hen (I don’t know why) so I dismissed it.  The next weekend we were stacking wood and filling the wood bin and it started up again.  This time it was clearly coming from the garage.  Sure enough I caught “her” in the act.  Darn it!  I’ve never known a rooster to crow so early, but granted my experience is somewhat limited.  He was only about 2 months old at the most.  I don’t need another rooster!  Add to that, that it appears to be an Americana rooster.  We have a somewhat love/hate relationship with the Americana/Araucana chickens.  They lay beautiful eggs and the variety of plumage makes them interesting to look at but they are a light breed so even the rooster is hardly worth slaughtering and we haven’t found them to be particularly hardier or, uhm, strong on predator evasion?  We often joke about the saying ‘you only have to run faster than the slowest’… they are clearly often the slowest.

So the new rooster is still in the garage and likes to crow at us in the evenings when we come and go doing chores.  We are trying to decide on a name for the rooster.  So far we’ve toyed with “Pat” on account of the ambiguous identity.  We closely examined his wound a few nights ago and it is all covered with skin and emerging feathers except a small spot about the size of pencil eraser that still has a scab on it.  It’s going on 4 weeks now I believe.  We plan on keeping keep isolated until the next flock of baby chicks arrives (the meat birds) and are hoping we can reintegrate him with his flock after that.  We certainly don’t “need” another rooster but hopefully he’ll help protect them… that is if they don’t try to kill him again.